On July 6, 2014, shortly after 5:00pm, at the end of a busy Fourth of July holiday weekend that saw the Newport Beach Lifeguard Department make nearly 600 rescues, 32-year-old Ben Carlson laid down his life to save a swimmer in distress.
For 15 years Carlson saved countless lives as a Newport guard. Every year the Newport Beach Lifeguard department rescues over 4,000 people. On the day Carlson lost his life, with a large south swell running, the agency had conducted over 200 rescues. Making a rescue from the lifeguard boat, he went over the falls with a victim and did not come back up. The victim survived, after an extensive search, Carlson’s body was eventually found and he was pronounced dead.
Carlson was the first Newport guard to lose his life in the line of duty since the they first started patrolling local waters in 1923. A former water polo player at UC Irvine and a strong, competitive swimmer, his selfless sacrifice reverberated throughout the lifeguard and firefighting community.
Carlson was posthumously awarded the Newport Beach Fire Department’s Medal of Valor and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher presented the family with a tribute flag in his honor.
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“In his 15 years as a seasonal guard he was a mentor to a lot of the men and women coming up the ranks in the department,” said Skeeter Leeper, a fellow lifeguard, roommate, longtime friend and the energy behind the Ben Carlson Foundation.
“Then when the summer guarding season ended, we’d go down to Puerto Escondido together. When it was big, he was always the guy pushing me to paddle out with him,” he continued.
It’s been ten years now since Carlson passed, but his spirit and impact live on in ways he may never have imagined. This weekend, that spirit will be honored via the Ben Did Go 9.0 paddle from the island of Catalina to Newport Beach.
A 30-mile paddle, the event isn’t just a test of physical endurance and a way to honor Carlson, after he passed, the Ben Carlson Foundation was established to provide scholarships, water safety programs, international lifeguard outreach, and junior lifeguard initiatives. The goal of this paddle is to raise $250,000 to help raise funds for these various programs.
Social media personality John Wayne Freeman has signed on to host the paddle. A former first responder himself, he’ll provide insight, empathy and a bit of comic relief as paddlers make their way across the channel.
The Ben Did Go 9.0 will take place on Saturday, September 13. Leaving from Catalina early in the morning, paddlers are expected to hit the Newport Beach pier around 2:00pm for those interesting in turning out and cheering them across the finish line.
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